Austria: National Meeting 2019

The members of the Austrian Family Federation held a
National level meeting on August 3rd, 2019. The venue was Seebenstein, a place
for workshops and meetings, owned by one Austrian blessed family. 230 members
and guests attended the meeting.

We were lucky to have our Regional President’s couple Dieter
& Ana Schmidt attending the meeting. It started with a Service including
songs, prayer, HDH and a message by National Leader Elisabeth Cook and Regional
President Dieter & Ana Schmidt. The topic “We are
Family” was chosen because the Blessed families who came from all parts of
Austria wanted to use this opportunity to reconnect, exchange experiences and
encourage each other. The second reason for meeting on a national level was to
gather strength and share ideas about how to present True Parents effectively
in society in 2020 – the 100th birthday of True Father and 60th anniversary of
the Holy Wedding of True Parents. This topic was discussed in one of the
presentations after the Service.

Different lectures were offered in parallel settings, so
that the brothers and sisters could choose a topic of their interest. City
leaders presented their communities: some had even prepared a movie, others gave
PPT presentations, and the leaders of UPF, WFWP and FFWPU talked about
“Perspectives for 2020”.

While the lectures were going on, elder 2nd gen HARP leaders
engaged in sports and games with the youth. The young children could enjoy a
bouncy castle and a trampoline. It was so much fun for them that one of the
young children stated: “This was the most beautiful day of my life!”

In the afternoon the young generation had a meeting in the
style of a World Café where they discussed topics like “Investments for Peace“,
„Healthy Lifestyle”, Our responsibility as young people in this fast changing
world”, “The school of Love”. Also, a presentation about the Cranes Club was
given by one participant.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the music program
later in the afternoon. Brothers and sisters from different communities had
prepared musical presentations which were appreciated a lot by the audience.

Finally, the meeting concluded with a barbeque and a group
photograph. “We should spend this day feeling that we are living in Cheon Il
Guk, where we care about each other and speak about the matters of the heart” –
this was a wish expressed in the sermon at the beginning of the meeting, and
for most of us, it became true.

Travelling home, we could see a beautiful double rainbow in the sky, a sign of the love of our Heavenly Parent!